Court revives conspiracy suit against Sheriff's Department

San Diego  A federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department and the county over a 2008 arrest of a woman who was involved in a contentious relationship with a deputy sheriff.

A federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department and the county over a 2008 arrest of a woman who was involved in a contentious relationship with a deputy sheriff.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that parts of a civil rights lawsuit filed by Michelle Cameron should be allowed to go forward. A federal judge in San Diego had dismissed the suit.

Cameron was arrested at gunpoint in her Ocean Beach apartment by a team of armed deputies wearing SWAT gear and then held in jail for five days. The reason: a complaint filed by Deputy David Buether, the father of her two children whom she had been living with since 2004, that stated she had used a credit card without his permission.

The appeals court said the case could go forward on claims that deputies used excessive force when they arrested Cameron, and that Buether and Detective Michelle Craig conspired to arrest her so that Buether could gain an advantage in a custody dispute the couple were having.

Craig and Buether attended the academy together and worked on the same shift at the Vista sheriff’s station for four years. Buether testified in a deposition they responded to “hundreds” of calls together, the court said.

The court ruled that Craig could not claim legal immunity for her actions, which is normally granted to peace officers who are sued for actions done in the course of their work.

Craig and Buether still work for the Sheriff’s Department, said spokeswoman Jan Caldwell.

Buether settled out of court with Cameron for a confidential amount, said her attorney, Alex Scheingross.

The two were never married, but had lived together, were co-signers on a home-equity loan and car loan, and had commingled their finances, according to court documents. Cameron’s lawyers said she had used the credit card 123 times before without complaint.

In October 2008, Buether obtained an order to get Cameron removed from the San Marcos home he owned and they lived in, saying she had been abusive and violent. Five days later, living at a friend’s home, Cameron used the card to purchase $9,000 worth of goods from Overstock.com.

The items were meant to set up a new home for herself and the couple’s children, Scheingross said. Over the next few weeks, the deputy and Cameron tried to reconcile. Buether came to her new home and saw the purchased goods, the appeals court said, and did nothing.

But the two did not get back together. In November, Buether filed a complaint with the Sheriff’s Department over the purchases. Detective Craig then obtained a search warrant, though she did not reveal the couple had commingled their finances for years, nor did she mention the custody dispute.

In her lawsuit, Cameron said Craig scheduled the raid on a day she knew, from Buether, that the two children would be with her. The appeals court said Craig had checked with Buether to find out if he would be available to pick up the children that day.